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Cllr Anna Smith, the executive councillor for streets and open spaces, has now apologised and launched an investigation.

She said: “I want to take this opportunity to apologise on behalf of the council for personal possessions taken when cardboard was recently removed by our team from city centre doorways.

“It is not the policy of the council to dispose of personal possessions and we apologise if this has inadvertently happened.

"Our dedicated officers frequently report any issues of concern regarding the health or welfare of rough sleepers. I know that they will be very concerned at reports that personal possessions may have been inadvertently destroyed.

“I have begun a cross-council investigation into the reported incidents and wider issues, We want to talk to those affected and homelessness agencies and learn from this so that we can avoid such distress in the future.

“I also commit, on behalf of the council, that where personal belongings have to be removed in future, we will be putting an accessible collection point in place for them to be reclaimed and we will ensure that our street outreach teams can pass this information onto the individuals they deal with."

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Julian Huppert, Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Cambridge was appalled and “heartbroken” after reading what happened to the possessions of rough sleepers in Cambridge.

He said: “I was shocked to hear that the city council had decided to throw away all the possessions of a homeless man, sleeping rough in the city centre.

“I was heartbroken then to hear that these possessions included his only photos of his dead son. His life was hard already - no one deserves to have that happen to them.

“But then to hear that, rather than apologising profusely, the council defended its actions and said it would do it again, made my upset turn to outrage.

“It is awful that there are people who are homeless, sleeping rough in our streets. Pushing them out of the way may make the area look prettier, but makes their lives even tougher.

“I’ve known and worked with many homeless and ex-homeless people over the years. They are people just like we are, and should be treated with basic human decency. There’s a lot to do to end homelessness in this country and this city, and I am determined to see it happen.

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“The city council has got this massively wrong. They’ve failed to live up to the values we in Cambridge hold dear. The leader of the council should immediately apologise to all those who had their worldly goods so casually destroyed, and set out immediately what will be done to stop this from ever happening again.

“Nothing can bring back a man’s only images of his dead son, but at least we can stop this tragedy ever happening again.”

Daniel Zeichner, Labour parliamentary candidate for Cambridge, has been asked for comment.